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Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman[5] on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ("share alike") terms,[6] such as with its own GNU General Public License.[7] The FSF was incorporated in Boston,[8] Massachusetts, United States, where it is also based.[9]

Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation logo
AbbreviationFSF
FormationOctober 4, 1985;
38 years ago
 (1985-10-04)[1]
FounderRichard Stallman
Type501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Legal status501(c)(3)
PurposeEducational
HeadquartersBoston, Massachusetts, US
Region served
Worldwide
Membership
Individuals
President
Geoffrey Knauth
Executive director
Zoë Kooyman[2]
Revenue (2020)
$1,149,602[3]
Expenses (2020)$1,809,358[3]
Staff
13[4]
Websitewww.fsf.org

From its founding until the mid-1990s, FSF's funds were mostly used to employ software developers to write free software for the GNU Project[citation needed] and its employees and volunteers have mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community[which?].

Consistent with its goals, the FSF aims to use only free software on its own computers.[10]

History edit

The Free Software Foundation was founded in 1985 as a non-profit corporation supporting free software development. It continued existing GNU projects such as the sale of manuals and tapes, and employed developers of the free software system.[11] Since then, it has continued these activities, as well as advocating for the free software movement. The FSF is also the steward of several free software licenses, meaning it publishes them and has the ability to make revisions as needed.[12]

The FSF holds the copyrights on many pieces of the GNU system, such as GNU Compiler Collection. As the holder of these copyrights, it has authority to enforce the copyleft requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL) when copyright infringement occurs.

From 1991 until 2001, GPL enforcement was done informally, usually by Stallman himself, often with assistance from FSF's lawyer, Eben Moglen.[citation needed] Typically, GPL violations during this time were cleared up by short email exchanges between Stallman and the violator.[citation needed] In the interest of promoting copyleft assertiveness by software companies to the level that the FSF was already doing, in 2004 Harald Welte launched gpl-violations.org.

In late 2001, Bradley M. Kuhn (then executive director), with the assistance of Moglen, David Turner, and Peter T. Brown, formalized these efforts into FSF's GPL Compliance Labs. From 2002–2004, high-profile GPL enforcement cases, such as those against Linksys and OpenTV, became frequent.[13][14][15]

GPL enforcement and educational campaigns on GPL compliance was a major focus of the FSF's efforts during this period.[16][17]

In March 2003, SCO filed suit against IBM alleging that IBM's contributions to various free software, including FSF's GNU, violated SCO's rights. While FSF was never a party to the lawsuit, FSF was subpoenaed on November 5, 2003.[18] During 2003 and 2004, FSF put substantial advocacy effort into responding to the lawsuit and quelling its negative impact on the adoption and promotion of free software.[19][20]

From 2003 to 2005, FSF held legal seminars to explain the GPL and the surrounding law.[21] Usually taught by Bradley M. Kuhn and Daniel Ravicher, these seminars offered CLE credit and were the first effort to give formal legal education on the GPL.[20][22][23]

In 2007, the FSF published the third version of the GNU General Public License after significant outside input.[24][25]

In December 2008, FSF filed a lawsuit against Cisco for using GPL-licensed components shipped with Linksys products. Cisco was notified of the licensing issue in 2003 but Cisco repeatedly disregarded its obligations under the GPL.[26] In May 2009, Cisco and FSF reached settlement under which Cisco agreed to make a monetary donation to the FSF and appoint a Free Software Director to conduct continuous reviews of the company's license compliance practices.[27]

In September 2019, Richard Stallman resigned as president of the FSF after pressure from journalists and members of the open source community in response to him making controversial comments in defense of Marvin Minsky on Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking scandal.[28] Nevertheless, Stallman remained head of the GNU Project and in 2021, he returned to the FSF board of directors.[29][30][31][32]

Current and ongoing activities edit

The GNU Project edit

The original purpose of the FSF was to promote the ideals of free software. The organization envisaged the GNU operating system as an example of this.

GNU licenses edit

The GNU General Public License (GPL) is a widely used license for free software projects. The current version (version 3) was released in June 2007. The FSF has also published the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), and the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).

GNU Press edit

The FSF's publishing department, responsible for "publishing affordable books on computer science using freely distributable licenses."[33][34]

The Free Software Directory edit

This is a list of software packages that have been verified as free software. Each package entry contains up to 47 pieces of information such as the project's homepage, developers, programming language, etc. The goals are to provide a search engine for free software, and to provide a cross-reference for users to check if a package has been verified as being free software. The FSF has received a small amount of funding[quantify] from UNESCO for this project.

Maintaining the Free Software Definition edit

FSF maintains many of the documents that define the free software movement.

Project hosting edit

FSF hosts software development projects on its Savannah website.

h-node edit

An abbreviation for "Hardware-Node", the h-node website lists hardware and device drivers that have been verified as compatible with free software. It is user-edited and volunteer supported with hardware entries tested by users before publication.[35][36][37]

Advocacy edit

FSF sponsors a number of campaigns against what it perceives as dangers to software freedom, including software patents, digital rights management (which the FSF and others[38] have re-termed "digital restrictions management", as part of its effort to highlight technologies that are "designed to take away and limit your rights",[39]) and user interface copyright. Since 2012, Defective by Design is an FSF-initiated campaign against DRM.[40] It also has a campaign to promote Ogg+Vorbis, a free alternative to proprietary formats like AAC and MQA. FSF also sponsors free software projects it deems "high-priority".

Annual awards edit

"Outstanding new Free Software contributor", "Award for the Advancement of Free Software" and "Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit"

LibrePlanet wiki edit

The LibrePlanet wiki organizes FSF members into regional groups in order to promote free software activism against Digital Restrictions Management and other issues promoted by the FSF.

High priority projects edit

 
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is a distribution officially endorsed by the FSF.

The FSF maintains a list of "high-priority projects" to which the Foundation claims that "there is a vital need to draw the free software community's attention".[41] The FSF considers these projects "important because computer users are continually being seduced into using non-free software, because there is no adequate free replacement."[41]

As of 2021, high-priority tasks include reverse engineering proprietary firmware, reversible debugging in GNU Debugger; developing automatic transcription and video editing software, Coreboot, drivers for network routers, a free smartphone operating system and creating replacements for Skype and Siri.[41]

Previous projects highlighted as needing work included the Free Java implementations, GNU Classpath, and GNU Compiler for Java, which ensure compatibility for the Java part of OpenOffice.org, and the GNOME desktop environment (see Java: Licensing).[42]

The effort has been criticized by Michael Larabel for either not instigating active development or for being slow at the work being done, even after certain projects were added to the list.[43][44]

Endorsements edit

Operating systems edit

The FSF maintains a list of approved Linux operating systems that maintain free software by default:[45]

The project also maintains a list of operating systems that are not versions of the GNU system:

Discontinued operating systems edit

The following are previously endorsed operating systems that are no longer actively maintained:

Hardware endorsements (RYF) edit

Since 2012, the FSF maintains a "Respects Your Freedom" (RYF) hardware certification program. To be granted certification, a product must use 100% Free Software, allow user installation of modified software, be free of backdoors and conform with several other requirements.[46][47]

Structure edit

Board edit

The FSF's board of directors includes professors at leading universities, senior engineers, and founders. Current board members are:[48]

Previous board members include:

Executive directors edit

Executive directors include:

Voting edit

The FSF Articles of Organization state that the board of directors are elected.[60]

The bylaws say who can vote for them.[61]

The board can grant powers to the Voting Membership.[62]

Employment edit

At any given time, there are usually around a dozen employees.[63] Most, but not all, work at the FSF headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts.[64]

Membership edit

On November 25, 2002, the FSF launched the FSF Associate Membership program for individuals.[65] Bradley M. Kuhn (FSF executive director, 2001–2005) launched the program and also signed up as the first Associate Member[66]

Associate members are primarily an honorary and funding support role.[62] In 2023, associate members gained the ability to make board nominations, along with FSF staff and FSF voting members. There is also an annual meeting of FSF members, usually during lunch at LibrePlanet, in which feedback for FSF is solicited.

Legal edit

Eben Moglen and Dan Ravicher previously served individually as pro bono legal counsel to the FSF. After forming the Software Freedom Law Center, Eben Moglen continued to serve as the FSF's general counsel until 2016.[67]

Financial edit

Most of the FSF funding comes from patrons and members.[68] Revenue streams also come from free-software-related compliance labs, job postings, published works, and a web store. FSF offers speakers and seminars for pay, and all FSF projects accept donations.

Revenues fund free-software programs and campaigns, while cash is invested conservatively in socially responsible investing. The financial strategy is designed to maintain the Foundation's long-term future through economic stability.

The FSF is a tax-exempt organization and posts annual IRS Form 990 filings online.[69]

Criticism edit

Position on DRM edit

Linus Torvalds has criticized FSF for using GPLv3 as a weapon in the fight against DRM. Torvalds argues that the issue of DRM and that of a software license should be treated as two separate issues.[70]

Defective by Design campaign edit

On June 16, 2010, Joe Brockmeier, a journalist at Linux Magazine, criticized the Defective by Design campaign by the FSF as "negative" and "juvenile" and not being adequate for providing users with "credible alternatives" to proprietary software.[71] FSF responded to this criticism by saying "that there is a fundamental difference between speaking out against policies or actions and smear campaigns", and "that if one is taking an ethical position, it is justified, and often necessary, to not only speak about the benefits of freedom but against acts of dispossession and disenfranchisement."[72]

GNU LibreDWG license controversy edit

In 2009, a license update of LibDWG/LibreDWG to version 3 of the GNU GPL made it impossible for the free software projects LibreCAD and FreeCAD to use LibreDWG legally.[73] Many projects voiced their unhappiness about the GPLv3 license selection for LibreDWG, such as FreeCAD, LibreCAD, Assimp, and Blender.[74] Some suggested the selection of a license with a broader license compatibility, for instance the MIT, BSD, or LGPL 2.1.[74] A request went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2, which was rejected in 2012.[75]

The libDWG has stalled since 2011 for various reasons, including license issues.[76]

Accusations against Richard Stallman edit

Stallman resigned from the board in 2019 after making controversial comments about one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, but rejoined the board 18 months later.[77] Several prominent organizations and individuals who develop free software objected to the decision, citing past writings on Stallman's blog which they considered antithetical to promoting a diverse community.[78][79] As a result of Stallman's reinstatement, prominent members of the Free Software Foundation quit in protest and Red Hat announced that it would stop funding and supporting the Free Software Foundation.[78][80]

Recognition edit

Key players and industries that have made honorific mention and awards include:

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The FSF annual filings with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 1998 and 1999 show that De Icaza was not on the board on 1998-11-01 and was as of 1999-11-01, so he clearly joined sometime between those dates. Those documents further indicate that the 1999 annual meeting occurred in August; usually, new directors are elected at annual meetings.
  2. ^ The FSF annual filings with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 1999 and 2000 show that Moglen was not on the board on November 1, 1999, and was as of November 1, 2000, so he clearly joined sometime between those dates. Those documents further indicate that the 2000 annual meeting occurred on July 28, 2000; usually, new directors are elected at annual meetings.

References edit

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  4. ^ "Staff of the Free Software Foundation". from the original on November 24, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
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  28. ^ Bort, Julie (October 10, 2019). . Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
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  30. ^ Stallman, Richard. "Richard Stallman's Personal Site". from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2021. I continue to be the Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project. I do not intend to stop any time soon.
  31. ^ Brodkin, Jon (March 22, 2021). "Richard Stallman returns to FSF 18 months after controversial rape comments". Ars Technica. from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  32. ^ Clark, Mitchell (March 22, 2021). "Richard Stallman returns to the Free Software Foundation after resigning in 2019". The Verge. from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  33. ^ . Free Software Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on November 25, 2005.
  34. ^ List of books published 2013-05-01 at the Wayback Machine in GNU Press home site
  35. ^ "FSF and Debian join forces to help free software users find the hardware they need". September 8, 2014. from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  36. ^ "FSFとDebian、GNU/Linuxハードウェア情報サイト「h-node.org」を共同支援へ | OSDN Magazine". OSDN. from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  37. ^ "home - h-node.org". h-node.org. from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  38. ^ Stross, Randall (January 14, 2007). "Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs". The New York Times. from the original on November 1, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  39. ^ "Digital Restrictions Management and Treacherous Computing". Free Software Foundation. September 18, 2006. from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  40. ^ Noyes, Katherine (August 21, 2012). "For DRM-Free Content, Look for the New FSF Logo". PCWorld. from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  41. ^ a b c "High Priority Free Software Projects". Free Software Foundation. from the original on July 1, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  42. ^ "Changelog for the High Priority Projects list". Free Software Foundation. from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  43. ^ Larabel, Michael (October 15, 2011). "The Sad State Of FSF's High Priority Projects". Phoronix. from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2014. Long story short, being on the Free Software Foundation's high priority list really doesn't mean much with some of these "important" projects not even being actively developed or even discussed.
  44. ^ Larabel, Michael (April 22, 2012). "Many FSF Priority Projects Still Not Progressing". Phoronix. from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2014. Most of the projects are basically not going anywhere. Many of them at the time were not really advancing in their goals, haven't had releases in a while, or coding hasn't even started. It's been more than a half-year and still there's no significant work towards clearing many of projects from the FSF list.
  45. ^ "Free GNU/Linux distributions". GNU. April 30, 2021. from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  46. ^ Noyes, Katherine (October 11, 2012). "New FSF logo highlights hardware that 'Respects Your Freedom'". PCWorld. from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  47. ^ Josh Gay (January 27, 2012). "Respects Your Freedom hardware certification requirements". Free Software Foundation. from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
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  52. ^ a b c The first GNU's Bulletin ("GNU's Bulletin, Volume 1, No.1". Free Software Foundation. February 1986. from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2007.), indicates this list of people as round[ing] out FSF's board of directors.
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  59. ^ "Kat (@mindspillage@mastodon.social)". Mastodon. March 25, 2021. from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  60. ^

    Article II, Sec. 1 - Number, Election and Qualification: The present members of the corporation shall constitute the voting members. Thereafter the voting members annually at its annual meeting shall fix the number of voting members and shall elect the number of voting members so fixed. At any special or regular meeting, the voting members then in office may increase the number of voting members and elect new voting members to complete the number so fixed; or they may decrease the number of voting members, but only to eliminate vacancies caused by the death, resignation, removal or disqualification of one or more voting members.

    — Amended By-laws, Nov. 25, 2002, Free Software Foundation, Inc.
  61. ^

    In addition to the right to elect Directors as provided in the bylaws and such other powers and rights as may be vested in them by law, these Articles of Organization or the bylaws, the Voting Members shall have such other powers and rights as the Directors may designate.

    — Amended By-laws, Nov. 25, 2002, Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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  65. ^ The site member.fsf.org first appears in the Internet Archive in December 2002, and that site lists the date of the launch as 25 November 2002. . The Internet Archive. Archived from the original on December 20, 2002.
  66. ^ Kuhn has an FSF-generated member link that identifies him as the first member on his web page. "Homepage of Bradley M. Kuhn". Bradley M. Kuhn. January 5, 2008. from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
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  74. ^ a b Prokoudine, Alexandre (January 26, 2012). . libregraphicsworld.org. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2013. [Assimp's Alexander Gessler:] "Personally, I'm extremely unhappy with their [LibreDWG's — LGW] GPL licensing. It prohibits its use in Assimp and for many other applications as well. I don't like dogmatic ideologies, and freeing software by force (as GPL/GNU does) is something I dislike in particular. It's fine for applications, because it doesn't hurt at this point, but, in my opinion, not for libraries that are designed to be used as freely as possible." [Blender's Toni Roosendaal:] "Blender is also still "GPLv2 or later". For the time being we stick to that, moving to GPL 3 has no evident benefits I know of. My advice for LibreDWG: if you make a library, choosing a widely compatible license (MIT, BSD, or LGPL) is a very positive choice."
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External links edit

  • Official website  
  • LibrePlanet

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This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia s inclusion policy March 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Free Software Foundation FSF is a 501 c 3 non profit organization founded by Richard Stallman 5 on October 4 1985 to support the free software movement with the organization s preference for software being distributed under copyleft share alike terms 6 such as with its own GNU General Public License 7 The FSF was incorporated in Boston 8 Massachusetts United States where it is also based 9 Free Software FoundationFree Software Foundation logoAbbreviationFSFFormationOctober 4 1985 38 years ago 1985 10 04 1 FounderRichard StallmanType501 c 3 non profit organizationLegal status501 c 3 PurposeEducationalHeadquartersBoston Massachusetts USRegion servedWorldwideMembershipIndividualsPresidentGeoffrey KnauthExecutive directorZoe Kooyman 2 Revenue 2020 1 149 602 3 Expenses 2020 1 809 358 3 Staff13 4 Websitewww wbr fsf wbr org From its founding until the mid 1990s FSF s funds were mostly used to employ software developers to write free software for the GNU Project citation needed and its employees and volunteers have mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community which Consistent with its goals the FSF aims to use only free software on its own computers 10 Contents 1 History 2 Current and ongoing activities 2 1 The GNU Project 2 2 GNU licenses 2 3 GNU Press 2 4 The Free Software Directory 2 5 Maintaining the Free Software Definition 2 6 Project hosting 2 7 h node 2 8 Advocacy 2 9 Annual awards 2 10 LibrePlanet wiki 3 High priority projects 4 Endorsements 4 1 Operating systems 4 1 1 Discontinued operating systems 4 2 Hardware endorsements RYF 5 Structure 5 1 Board 5 2 Executive directors 5 3 Voting 5 4 Employment 5 5 Membership 5 6 Legal 5 7 Financial 6 Criticism 6 1 Position on DRM 6 2 Defective by Design campaign 6 3 GNU LibreDWG license controversy 6 4 Accusations against Richard Stallman 7 Recognition 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External linksHistory editThis article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia s quality standards The specific problem is the timeline of the narrative Please help improve this article if you can May 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Free Software Foundation was founded in 1985 as a non profit corporation supporting free software development It continued existing GNU projects such as the sale of manuals and tapes and employed developers of the free software system 11 Since then it has continued these activities as well as advocating for the free software movement The FSF is also the steward of several free software licenses meaning it publishes them and has the ability to make revisions as needed 12 The FSF holds the copyrights on many pieces of the GNU system such as GNU Compiler Collection As the holder of these copyrights it has authority to enforce the copyleft requirements of the GNU General Public License GPL when copyright infringement occurs From 1991 until 2001 GPL enforcement was done informally usually by Stallman himself often with assistance from FSF s lawyer Eben Moglen citation needed Typically GPL violations during this time were cleared up by short email exchanges between Stallman and the violator citation needed In the interest of promoting copyleft assertiveness by software companies to the level that the FSF was already doing in 2004 Harald Welte launched gpl violations org In late 2001 Bradley M Kuhn then executive director with the assistance of Moglen David Turner and Peter T Brown formalized these efforts into FSF s GPL Compliance Labs From 2002 2004 high profile GPL enforcement cases such as those against Linksys and OpenTV became frequent 13 14 15 GPL enforcement and educational campaigns on GPL compliance was a major focus of the FSF s efforts during this period 16 17 In March 2003 SCO filed suit against IBM alleging that IBM s contributions to various free software including FSF s GNU violated SCO s rights While FSF was never a party to the lawsuit FSF was subpoenaed on November 5 2003 18 During 2003 and 2004 FSF put substantial advocacy effort into responding to the lawsuit and quelling its negative impact on the adoption and promotion of free software 19 20 From 2003 to 2005 FSF held legal seminars to explain the GPL and the surrounding law 21 Usually taught by Bradley M Kuhn and Daniel Ravicher these seminars offered CLE credit and were the first effort to give formal legal education on the GPL 20 22 23 In 2007 the FSF published the third version of the GNU General Public License after significant outside input 24 25 In December 2008 FSF filed a lawsuit against Cisco for using GPL licensed components shipped with Linksys products Cisco was notified of the licensing issue in 2003 but Cisco repeatedly disregarded its obligations under the GPL 26 In May 2009 Cisco and FSF reached settlement under which Cisco agreed to make a monetary donation to the FSF and appoint a Free Software Director to conduct continuous reviews of the company s license compliance practices 27 In September 2019 Richard Stallman resigned as president of the FSF after pressure from journalists and members of the open source community in response to him making controversial comments in defense of Marvin Minsky on Jeffrey Epstein s sex trafficking scandal 28 Nevertheless Stallman remained head of the GNU Project and in 2021 he returned to the FSF board of directors 29 30 31 32 Current and ongoing activities editThe GNU Project edit Main article GNU Project The original purpose of the FSF was to promote the ideals of free software The organization envisaged the GNU operating system as an example of this GNU licenses edit The GNU General Public License GPL is a widely used license for free software projects The current version version 3 was released in June 2007 The FSF has also published the GNU Lesser General Public License LGPL the GNU Free Documentation License GFDL and the GNU Affero General Public License AGPL GNU Press edit The FSF s publishing department responsible for publishing affordable books on computer science using freely distributable licenses 33 34 The Free Software Directory edit Main article Free Software Directory This is a list of software packages that have been verified as free software Each package entry contains up to 47 pieces of information such as the project s homepage developers programming language etc The goals are to provide a search engine for free software and to provide a cross reference for users to check if a package has been verified as being free software The FSF has received a small amount of funding quantify from UNESCO for this project Maintaining the Free Software Definition edit Main article The Free Software Definition FSF maintains many of the documents that define the free software movement Project hosting edit FSF hosts software development projects on its Savannah website h node edit An abbreviation for Hardware Node the h node website lists hardware and device drivers that have been verified as compatible with free software It is user edited and volunteer supported with hardware entries tested by users before publication 35 36 37 Advocacy edit FSF sponsors a number of campaigns against what it perceives as dangers to software freedom including software patents digital rights management which the FSF and others 38 have re termed digital restrictions management as part of its effort to highlight technologies that are designed to take away and limit your rights 39 and user interface copyright Since 2012 Defective by Design is an FSF initiated campaign against DRM 40 It also has a campaign to promote Ogg Vorbis a free alternative to proprietary formats like AAC and MQA FSF also sponsors free software projects it deems high priority Annual awards edit See also FSF Free Software Awards Outstanding new Free Software contributor Award for the Advancement of Free Software and Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit LibrePlanet wiki edit The LibrePlanet wiki organizes FSF members into regional groups in order to promote free software activism against Digital Restrictions Management and other issues promoted by the FSF High priority projects edit nbsp Parabola GNU Linux libre is a distribution officially endorsed by the FSF The FSF maintains a list of high priority projects to which the Foundation claims that there is a vital need to draw the free software community s attention 41 The FSF considers these projects important because computer users are continually being seduced into using non free software because there is no adequate free replacement 41 As of 2021 high priority tasks include reverse engineering proprietary firmware reversible debugging in GNU Debugger developing automatic transcription and video editing software Coreboot drivers for network routers a free smartphone operating system and creating replacements for Skype and Siri 41 Previous projects highlighted as needing work included the Free Java implementations GNU Classpath and GNU Compiler for Java which ensure compatibility for the Java part of OpenOffice org and the GNOME desktop environment see Java Licensing 42 The effort has been criticized by Michael Larabel for either not instigating active development or for being slow at the work being done even after certain projects were added to the list 43 44 Endorsements editOperating systems edit The FSF maintains a list of approved Linux operating systems that maintain free software by default 45 Dragora GNU Linux Libre dyne bolic GNU Guix System Hyperbola GNU Linux libre Parabola GNU Linux libre PureOS Trisquel Ututo LibreCMC ProteanOS The project also maintains a list of operating systems that are not versions of the GNU system Replicant Discontinued operating systems edit The following are previously endorsed operating systems that are no longer actively maintained gNewSense BLAG Linux and GNU Musix GNU Linux Hardware endorsements RYF edit See also Libreboot and Coreboot Since 2012 the FSF maintains a Respects Your Freedom RYF hardware certification program To be granted certification a product must use 100 Free Software allow user installation of modified software be free of backdoors and conform with several other requirements 46 47 Structure editBoard edit The FSF s board of directors includes professors at leading universities senior engineers and founders Current board members are 48 Geoffrey Knauth senior software engineer at SFA Inc served since October 23 1997 Henry Poole founder of CivicActions a government digital services firm served since December 12 2002 Gerald Jay Sussman professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology served since inception Ian Kelling Senior Systems Administrator at the FSF and the staff representative on the board Odile Benassy research engineer at the Paris sud university computer science research 49 50 Richard Stallman founder launched the GNU project author of the GNU General Public License Previous board members include Alexander Oliva Vice President served since August 28 2019 51 Hal Abelson founding member 52 professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology served from inception until March 5 1998 and rejoined c 2005 Robert J Chassell founding treasurer 52 as well as a founding director served from inception until June 3 1997 Miguel de Icaza served from August 1999 note 1 until February 25 2002 53 Benjamin Mako Hill assistant professor at the University of Washington served from July 25 2007 until October 2019 citation needed Matthew Garrett software developer served since October 16 2014 54 Bradley Kuhn executive director of the Software Freedom Conservancy and FSF s former executive director served from March 25 2010 55 to Oct 13 2019 56 Lawrence Lessig professor of law at Stanford University served from March 28 2004 until 2008 Eben Moglen served from July 28 2000 note 2 until 2007 57 Len Tower Jr founding member 52 served until September 2 1997 Kat Walsh is a copyright and technology attorney free culture and free software advocate and former chair of the Wikimedia Foundation She joined the board in 2015 58 She voted against the readmittance of Richard Stallman to the board and on March 25 2021 resigned saying It s a decision that has been a long time coming for me 59 Executive directors edit Executive directors include John Sullivan 2011 2022 Peter T Brown 2005 2010 Bradley M Kuhn 2001 2005 Voting edit The FSF Articles of Organization state that the board of directors are elected 60 The bylaws say who can vote for them 61 The board can grant powers to the Voting Membership 62 Employment edit At any given time there are usually around a dozen employees 63 Most but not all work at the FSF headquarters in Boston Massachusetts 64 Membership edit On November 25 2002 the FSF launched the FSF Associate Membership program for individuals 65 Bradley M Kuhn FSF executive director 2001 2005 launched the program and also signed up as the first Associate Member 66 Associate members are primarily an honorary and funding support role 62 In 2023 associate members gained the ability to make board nominations along with FSF staff and FSF voting members There is also an annual meeting of FSF members usually during lunch at LibrePlanet in which feedback for FSF is solicited Legal edit Eben Moglen and Dan Ravicher previously served individually as pro bono legal counsel to the FSF After forming the Software Freedom Law Center Eben Moglen continued to serve as the FSF s general counsel until 2016 67 Financial edit Most of the FSF funding comes from patrons and members 68 Revenue streams also come from free software related compliance labs job postings published works and a web store FSF offers speakers and seminars for pay and all FSF projects accept donations Revenues fund free software programs and campaigns while cash is invested conservatively in socially responsible investing The financial strategy is designed to maintain the Foundation s long term future through economic stability The FSF is a tax exempt organization and posts annual IRS Form 990 filings online 69 Criticism editPosition on DRM edit Linus Torvalds has criticized FSF for using GPLv3 as a weapon in the fight against DRM Torvalds argues that the issue of DRM and that of a software license should be treated as two separate issues 70 Defective by Design campaign edit On June 16 2010 Joe Brockmeier a journalist at Linux Magazine criticized the Defective by Design campaign by the FSF as negative and juvenile and not being adequate for providing users with credible alternatives to proprietary software 71 FSF responded to this criticism by saying that there is a fundamental difference between speaking out against policies or actions and smear campaigns and that if one is taking an ethical position it is justified and often necessary to not only speak about the benefits of freedom but against acts of dispossession and disenfranchisement 72 GNU LibreDWG license controversy edit In 2009 a license update of LibDWG LibreDWG to version 3 of the GNU GPL made it impossible for the free software projects LibreCAD and FreeCAD to use LibreDWG legally 73 Many projects voiced their unhappiness about the GPLv3 license selection for LibreDWG such as FreeCAD LibreCAD Assimp and Blender 74 Some suggested the selection of a license with a broader license compatibility for instance the MIT BSD or LGPL 2 1 74 A request went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2 which was rejected in 2012 75 The libDWG has stalled since 2011 for various reasons including license issues 76 Accusations against Richard Stallman edit Stallman resigned from the board in 2019 after making controversial comments about one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein but rejoined the board 18 months later 77 Several prominent organizations and individuals who develop free software objected to the decision citing past writings on Stallman s blog which they considered antithetical to promoting a diverse community 78 79 As a result of Stallman s reinstatement prominent members of the Free Software Foundation quit in protest and Red Hat announced that it would stop funding and supporting the Free Software Foundation 78 80 Recognition editThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it May 2014 Key players and industries that have made honorific mention and awards include 2001 GNU Project received the USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award for the ubiquity breadth and quality of its freely available redistributable and modifiable software which has enabled a generation of research and commercial development 81 2005 Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction in the category of Digital Communities 82 See also edit nbsp Free and open source software portal Defective by Design Anti DRM initiative Digital rights Type of human and legal rights Electronic Frontier Foundation US based digital rights group Free software movement Social movement Hardware restrictions League for Programming Freedom LibrePlanet Community project promoting free software Foundations promoting Free Software movement Free Software Foundation Europe Free Software Foundation Latin America Free Software Foundation of IndiaNotes edit The FSF annual filings with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 1998 and 1999 show that De Icaza was not on the board on 1998 11 01 and was as of 1999 11 01 so he clearly joined sometime between those dates Those documents further indicate that the 1999 annual meeting occurred in August usually new directors are elected at annual meetings The FSF annual filings with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 1999 and 2000 show that Moglen was not on the board on November 1 1999 and was as of November 1 2000 so he clearly joined sometime between those dates Those documents further indicate that the 2000 annual meeting occurred on July 28 2000 usually new directors are elected at annual meetings References edit Corporations Division Entity Summary for ID Number 042888848 Secretary of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Archived from the original on July 26 2020 Retrieved October 4 2014 Free Software Foundation announces new executive director Zoe Kooyman Free Software Foundation Working together for free software fsf org Archived from the original on March 2 2022 Retrieved March 2 2022 a b Roberts Ken Schwencke Mike Tigas Sisi Wei Alec Glassford Andrea Suozzo Brandon May 9 2013 Free Software Foundation Inc Nonprofit Explorer ProPublica Archived from the original on September 13 2022 Retrieved September 13 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Staff of the Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on November 24 2012 Retrieved October 5 2022 Corrado Edward M Moualison Sandy Heather Mitchell Erik T July 3 2018 Nullis in Verba The Free Software Movement as a model for Openness and Transparency Technical Services Quarterly 35 3 269 279 doi 10 1080 07317131 2018 1456849 ISSN 0731 7131 S2CID 196159979 Archived from the original on July 10 2023 Retrieved May 3 2022 Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU Licenses Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on March 30 2020 Retrieved July 22 2012 What Is Copyleft Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on June 18 2018 Retrieved July 22 2012 Free Software Foundation Boston United States bizpages org Archived from the original on February 27 2020 Retrieved March 7 2020 FREE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION INC Summary Screen The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Corporations Division Archived from the original on May 25 2013 Stallman Richard M 2002 Linux GNU and freedom Philosophy of the GNU Project GNU Project Archived from the original on December 23 2017 Retrieved December 10 2006 The GNU Project Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on April 24 2011 Retrieved June 24 2012 Licenses Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on April 6 2011 Retrieved June 24 2012 Meeker Heather June 28 2005 The Legend of Linksys Archived from the original on April 19 2009 Retrieved August 11 2007 Hosted on the Wayback Machine Gillmor Dan May 21 2003 GPL Legal Battle Coming SiliconValley com a division of the San Jose Mercury News Archived from the original on May 24 2003 Retrieved August 11 2007 Turner David Bradley M Kuhn September 29 2003 Linksys Cisco GPL Violations LWN net Archived from the original on August 31 2007 Retrieved August 11 2007 Kennedy Dennis January 11 2004 A Great Learning Opportunity for Software Lawyers Upcoming GPL Seminar Archived from the original on September 28 2007 Lord Timothy July 18 2003 Seminar On Details Of The GPL And Related Licenses Slashdot Archived from the original on June 6 2011 Retrieved August 11 2007 Heise Mark November 5 2003 SCO Subpoena of FSF PDF Free Software Foundation Archived PDF from the original on September 25 2007 Retrieved August 11 2007 Kuhn Bradley May 18 2004 The SCO Subpoena of FSF Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on June 8 2007 Retrieved August 11 2007 a b FSF To Host Free Software Licensing Seminars and Discussions on SCO v IBM in New York Press release Gnu org Archived from the original on May 17 2008 Retrieved August 30 2011 Seminar On Details Of The GPL And Related Licenses July 18 2003 Archived from the original on April 29 2023 Retrieved July 4 2008 Kuhn Bradley M June 2003 FSF Bulletin Issue 2 June 2003 Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on May 17 2008 Retrieved July 4 2008 On Friday 8 August 2003 we will hold a seminar on the GNU GPL The seminar titled Free Software Licensing and the GNU GPL will be co led by Daniel Ravicher Outside Counsel to FSF from Patterson Belknap Webb amp Tyler and Bradley M Kuhn Executive Director of FSF Sullivan John August 25 2005 FSF Seminar in NYC on September 28 lists gnu org Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on October 13 2019 Retrieved July 4 2008 GNU General Public License GNU June 29 2007 Archived from the original on July 29 2017 Retrieved June 15 2012 GNU General Public License GPLv3 Archived from the original on October 2 2008 Retrieved June 25 2012 Paul Ryan December 13 2007 Free Software Foundation lawsuit against Cisco a first Ars Technica Archived from the original on December 12 2008 Retrieved December 11 2008 Paul Ryan May 21 2009 Cisco settles FSF GPL lawsuit appoints compliance officer Ars Technica Archived from the original on July 26 2009 Retrieved October 6 2009 Bort Julie October 10 2019 A programmer explains why he s willing to quit rather than work with industry legend Richard Stallman who resigned from MIT after controversial remarks on Jeffrey Epstein Business Insider Archived from the original on August 7 2020 Retrieved May 3 2020 Larabel Michael September 26 2019 Richard Stallman To Continue As Head Of The GNU Project Phoronix Archived from the original on March 21 2022 Retrieved March 24 2021 Stallman Richard Richard Stallman s Personal Site Archived from the original on February 24 2011 Retrieved March 18 2021 I continue to be the Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project I do not intend to stop any time soon Brodkin Jon March 22 2021 Richard Stallman returns to FSF 18 months after controversial rape comments Ars Technica Archived from the original on March 23 2021 Retrieved March 23 2021 Clark Mitchell March 22 2021 Richard Stallman returns to the Free Software Foundation after resigning in 2019 The Verge Archived from the original on March 22 2021 Retrieved March 22 2021 GNU Press Published Documentation Free Software Foundation Inc Archived from the original on November 25 2005 List of books published Archived 2013 05 01 at the Wayback Machine in GNU Press home site FSF and Debian join forces to help free software users find the hardware they need September 8 2014 Archived from the original on October 19 2019 Retrieved October 19 2019 FSFとDebian GNU Linuxハードウェア情報サイト h node org を共同支援へ OSDN Magazine OSDN Archived from the original on October 19 2019 Retrieved October 19 2019 home h node org h node org Archived from the original on October 19 2019 Retrieved October 19 2019 Stross Randall January 14 2007 Want an iPhone Beware the iHandcuffs The New York Times Archived from the original on November 1 2016 Retrieved May 26 2014 Digital Restrictions Management and Treacherous Computing Free Software Foundation September 18 2006 Archived from the original on July 5 2018 Retrieved December 17 2007 Noyes Katherine August 21 2012 For DRM Free Content Look for the New FSF Logo PCWorld Archived from the original on June 6 2023 Retrieved June 6 2023 a b c High Priority Free Software Projects Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on July 1 2009 Retrieved January 7 2017 Changelog for the High Priority Projects list Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on January 29 2017 Retrieved January 24 2017 Larabel Michael October 15 2011 The Sad State Of FSF s High Priority Projects Phoronix Archived from the original on March 19 2015 Retrieved December 29 2014 Long story short being on the Free Software Foundation s high priority list really doesn t mean much with some of these important projects not even being actively developed or even discussed Larabel Michael April 22 2012 Many FSF Priority Projects Still Not Progressing Phoronix Archived from the original on March 19 2015 Retrieved December 29 2014 Most of the projects are basically not going anywhere Many of them at the time were not really advancing in their goals haven t had releases in a while or coding hasn t even started It s been more than a half year and still there s no significant work towards clearing many of projects from the FSF list Free GNU Linux distributions GNU April 30 2021 Archived from the original on December 25 2015 Retrieved May 27 2021 Noyes Katherine October 11 2012 New FSF logo highlights hardware that Respects Your Freedom PCWorld Archived from the original on June 6 2023 Retrieved June 6 2023 Josh Gay January 27 2012 Respects Your Freedom hardware certification requirements Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on February 7 2014 Retrieved February 4 2014 Staff and Board Free Software Foundation Working together for free software www fsf org Archived from the original on August 15 2013 Retrieved February 5 2022 Ingenieur de Recherche 2eme classe Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique Archived from the original on January 11 2022 Retrieved August 8 2020 Geoffrey Knauth elected Free Software Foundation president Odile Benassy joins the board Free Software Foundation August 5 2020 Archived from the original on June 7 2022 Retrieved August 8 2020 Alexandre Oliva joins Free Software Foundation board of directors Free Software Foundation August 28 2019 Archived from the original on October 20 2019 Retrieved October 17 2019 a b c The first GNU s Bulletin GNU s Bulletin Volume 1 No 1 Free Software Foundation February 1986 Archived from the original on June 23 2015 Retrieved August 11 2007 indicates this list of people as round ing out FSF s board of directors The FSF annual filings with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 2002 2002 Annual Report for Free Software Foundation Inc PDF The Commonwealth of Massachusetts December 17 2002 Archived PDF from the original on September 25 2007 Retrieved August 11 2007 show that De Icaza has left the board Changes to board composition are usually made at the annual meeting which occurred on February 25 2002 Matthew Garrett joins Free Software Foundation board of directors Free Software Foundation October 16 2014 Archived from the original on February 3 2015 Retrieved January 22 2015 Bradley Kuhn Joins the FSF Board March 25 2010 Archived from the original on March 29 2010 Retrieved March 26 2010 On Recent Controversial Events Bradley M Kuhn Brad bkuhn ebb org Archived from the original on October 16 2019 Retrieved October 17 2019 Moglen announced his intention to resign in his blog Moglen Eben April 23 2007 And Now Life After GPLv3 Archived from the original on July 2 2007 Retrieved August 11 2007 The resignation likely occurred at the 2007 annual meeting of the directors the exact date of that meeting is unknown Kat Walsh joins FSF board of directors fsf org Free Software Foundation Inc March 21 2015 Archived from the original on March 21 2015 Retrieved March 22 2015 Kat mindspillage mastodon social Mastodon March 25 2021 Archived from the original on July 30 2022 Retrieved April 27 2022 Article II Sec 1 Number Election and Qualification The present members of the corporation shall constitute the voting members Thereafter the voting members annually at its annual meeting shall fix the number of voting members and shall elect the number of voting members so fixed At any special or regular meeting the voting members then in office may increase the number of voting members and elect new voting members to complete the number so fixed or they may decrease the number of voting members but only to eliminate vacancies caused by the death resignation removal or disqualification of one or more voting members Amended By laws Nov 25 2002 Free Software Foundation Inc In addition to the right to elect Directors as provided in the bylaws and such other powers and rights as may be vested in them by law these Articles of Organization or the bylaws the Voting Members shall have such other powers and rights as the Directors may designate Amended By laws Nov 25 2002 Free Software Foundation Inc a b Amended Bylaws Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on January 24 2023 Retrieved January 24 2023 Meet the staff of the Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on August 15 2013 Retrieved September 4 2015 Certificate of Change of Principal Office PDF The Commonwealth of Massachusetts May 26 2005 Archived PDF from the original on August 26 2008 Retrieved July 4 2008 The site member fsf org first appears in the Internet Archive in December 2002 and that site lists the date of the launch as 25 November 2002 FSF Membership Page The Internet Archive Archived from the original on December 20 2002 Kuhn has an FSF generated member link that identifies him as the first member on his web page Homepage of Bradley M Kuhn Bradley M Kuhn January 5 2008 Archived from the original on December 26 2007 Retrieved January 5 2008 Sullivan John October 27 2016 FSF announces change in general counsel Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on May 8 2017 Retrieved May 18 2017 Stallman Richard About the GNU Project Gnu Project FSF Archived from the original on April 24 2011 Retrieved May 18 2014 FSF Financial Information Archived from the original on June 4 2022 Retrieved June 10 2022 patrick g Linus Torvalds the anniversary interview of the 20 years of the kernel LinuxFr org Archived from the original on October 23 2019 Retrieved October 23 2019 The Party of Gno Archived from the original on June 20 2010 Retrieved June 22 2010 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Hill Benjamin Mako November 28 2011 In defense of negativity Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on September 17 2019 Retrieved October 23 2019 Larabel Michael January 24 2013 FSF Wastes Away Another High Priority Project Phoronix Archived from the original on November 9 2016 Retrieved August 22 2013 Both LibreCAD and FreeCAD both want to use LibreDWG and have patches available for supporting the DWG file format library but can t integrate them The programs have dependencies on the popular GPLv2 license while the Free Software Foundation will only let LibreDWG be licensed for GPLv3 use not GPLv2 a b Prokoudine Alexandre January 26 2012 What s up with DWG adoption in free software libregraphicsworld org Archived from the original on November 9 2016 Retrieved November 3 2013 Assimp s Alexander Gessler Personally I m extremely unhappy with their LibreDWG s LGW GPL licensing It prohibits its use in Assimp and for many other applications as well I don t like dogmatic ideologies and freeing software by force as GPL GNU does is something I dislike in particular It s fine for applications because it doesn t hurt at this point but in my opinion not for libraries that are designed to be used as freely as possible Blender s Toni Roosendaal Blender is also still GPLv2 or later For the time being we stick to that moving to GPL 3 has no evident benefits I know of My advice for LibreDWG if you make a library choosing a widely compatible license MIT BSD or LGPL is a very positive choice Prokoudine Alexandre December 27 2012 LibreDWG drama the end or the new beginning libregraphicsworld org Archived from the original on November 9 2016 Retrieved August 23 2013 the unfortunate situation with support for DWG files in free CAD software via LibreDWG We feel by now it ought to be closed We have the final answer from FSF We are not going to change the license Prokoudine Alexandre January 26 2012 What s up with DWG adoption in free software libregraphicsworld org Archived from the original on November 9 2016 Retrieved November 3 2013 GPLv3 license It doesn t work for end user software because they tend to use 3rd party components under different licenses that impose restrictions FSF who are sole copyright holders of LibreDWG objected to relicensing With regards to FreeCAD project and Yorik van Havre its contributor Richard Stallman stated You should not change the license of your library Rather it is best to make it clear to him what the conditions are Personally I m extremely unhappy with their LibreDWG s LGW GPL licensing It prohibits its use in Assimp and for many other applications as well I don t like dogmatic ideologies and freeing software by force as GPL GNU does is something I dislike in particular It s fine for applications because it doesn t hurt at this point but in my opinion not for libraries that are designed to be used as freely as possible Brodkin Jon March 22 2021 Richard Stallman returns to FSF 18 months after controversial rape comments Ars Technica Archived from the original on March 23 2021 Retrieved March 31 2021 a b Vaughan Nichols Steven J Free Software Foundation leaders and supporters desert sinking ship ZDNet Archived from the original on March 30 2021 Retrieved March 31 2021 Brodkin Jon March 23 2021 Free software advocates seek removal of Richard Stallman and entire FSF board Ars Technica Archived from the original on April 2 2021 Retrieved March 31 2021 Salter Jim March 29 2021 Red Hat withdraws from the Free Software Foundation after Stallman s return Ars Technica Archived from the original on March 30 2021 Retrieved March 31 2021 USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award The Flame USENIX Archived from the original on December 28 2007 Retrieved December 5 2007 Free Software Foundation 2005 FSF honored with Prix Ars Electronica award News Releases Free Software Foundation Archived from the original on October 11 2006 Retrieved December 10 2006 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Free Software Foundation Official website nbsp LibrePlanet Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Free Software Foundation amp oldid 1220894897, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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